Summary:
Why do we, as contemporary scholars of Christian medieval mysticism, privilege the reading of medieval mystical texts as our focus? How can we define their ability to uniquely address relevant issues for readers today, without losing our attention to their historical integrity? These meta-questions encourage contributors of this volume to reflect critically on their own approaches to medieval mysticism from theology, philosophy of religion, hermeneutics in literature, and religious studies. Their diverse accounts for the meaningfulness of the study of medieval mysticism attest to the possibility of renewing a greater continuity of the heritage of medieval Christian spirituality in our time.